Interview with Laura Ashwood and a Giveaway!

Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance, and the authors visiting my blog answered them! This week, I’m excited to have USA TODAY bestselling author Laura Ashwood as my guest! I loved learning about her heart as a writer – and her new release looks so good! Read on to see how you can be one of two readers to win a copy!

Tell us a little bit about yourself: My name is Laura Ashwood. I write sweet/clean historical western and contemporary romance. My husband and I live in Northern Minnesota with our two dogs, who think they’re children. We have 4 adult children and 4 grandchildren under the age of 4. When I’m not writing, I love to cook and bake and work in our large garden.

Tell us about your current release: A Little Something Sweet is a first in series book set in the fictional town of Caribou Falls, Montana. It follows the story of former high school sweethearts Jake Sullivan and Megan Turner. When life brings them both back to the quaint mountain town of Caribou Falls, the last thing Megan intends to do is give Jake a second chance to break her heart, no matter how sweet their attraction still is. But some meddling moms and an adorable six-year-old matchmaker have other ideas…

Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever had a great writing idea? While on an ATV ride with my husband. We were driving down a long, low maintenance gravel road in our township and the idea just hit me. It became the story, Summer at Bluefin Bay, which hit the USA Today Bestseller list as part of a box set in March, 2021 and will release as a single hopefully this fall.

At what age did you know you wanted to write? I’ve heard stories of people who were writing stories in childhood (which is what I’d expect). But I’ve heard of others who randomly started much later in life, and that is so interesting to me! I knew I wanted to be a writer from the moment I learned how to read. I dabbled a little with it when I was in school, but was discouraged by others and set it aside. Fast forward to my late 40’s when my amazing husband finally convinced me to go to a writer’s group meeting where I was encouraged enough to pick up the pen and actually do it. I regret listening to others but believe everything happens in God’s perfect timing.

Do you feel pressured to compromise your standards in order to reach a larger audience or be more successful? In the short time I’ve been an author, I’ve been told a number of times that you have to write steamy to sell, or that only books with sex make money. I don’t believe that and have turned down several invitations to be parts of projects that have anything other than closed door romance in them. I made a promise to God a long time ago that if He gave me the words, they would only honor Him. It’s a promise I will not break.

What is your preferred method of writing? (computer, pen & paper, etc.) When I get ready to write a book, I make a binder (3 ring or disk binder) and handwrite my notes, character sketches, notes about the town, secondary characters, research, etc. My outline and set up notes (tropes, theme, bible verse) also go in there. When I draft, I usually draft in Google Docs. I prefer to use Scrivener, but don’t always have a computer with me. I always have either my phone or my Chromebook though, so … Google docs it is.

If you knew ahead of time your book would benefit only one person on their spiritual journey, would you still write it? Absolutely. If anything I write would make a difference to just one person, it would be worth it in spades. I know how much reading has enriched my life…how many bad things I’ve made it through because something I read gave me hope, or distracted me long enough to get through. To be able to do that for one person would be priceless.

Have you always wanted to write a book? I can never recall a time where that isn’t what I wanted to do. I’m still trying to make that dream a full time reality.

Find Laura online:

Web: www.lauraashwood.com
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/lauraashwoodbooks/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/LauraAshwoodBooks/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lauraashwoodbooks/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-ashwood
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/lauraashwoodbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laura_ashwood

Laura is giving away two ebooks to A Little Something Sweet! Here’s how you can enter to win!

4 comments

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    • Kristy on July 1, 2022 at 19:35
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    I appreciate that you have not buckled under the pressure to write steamy scenes in your books. As I have told Hallee in the past I even skip over kissing.
    Your book sounds like an excellent read.

    • Sonnetta Jones on July 1, 2022 at 21:38
    • Reply

    I appreciate that you didn’t give in to the pressures I came from a world that read the open door romance and I would hide some of the books I was reading. It created unrealistic expectations and I am so glad that I get to read clean fiction.

    • Nancy Naigle on July 5, 2022 at 19:23
    • Reply

    Fun interview! Can’t wait to read the book.

    • bn100 on July 10, 2022 at 17:08
    • Reply

    interview was nice

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